Don't Make Me Leave, Please?
by VanguardShores
Summary: We all have something we don't ever want to give up. Sometimes not even Death can tear those things we hold dear away. T for language and multiple mentioned character deaths.


**Hey guys, how're you doing? So, I wanted to try something different from a story with a clear plot. Then an idea for a sad, melancholic, sentimental monologue came to mind at 1am England time.**

**EDIT: It was requested by an author named Bonk Uppercut that this would be the prequel to their story "New Blood" formerly known as 'Teen Fortress 2', found here /s/9449615/1/New-Blood . I checked out their story and I gotta say, it's pretty good. Go check it out after you read this :)**

**Without further ado, please enjoy.**

**VanguardShores**

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Don't Make Me Leave, Please?

I never wanted to die.

Sounds stupid I know, no one ever wants to die. But I really didn't. I wanted to live forever, and I thought I could because of the Respawn. To never age, to never grow up, to live on into eternity. To always be reset back to when I first got logged into the system, 20 years ago. Yeah, that's how long I've been working for RED.

Well, _'worked_'.

A spritely, arrogant 23 year old who wanted to make his Ma proud and show those good-for-nothing BLU's who's the boss. Fuck, that was such a long time ago. But like I was saying, we all got reset whenever we died. Yeah ok we didn't die-die, but work with me here.

The years rolled on and we never changed at all, even as we got older. Even Doc who must've been late 40's already, he's what, sixty-something now and he doesn't look a day older than when he started. Weeks turned into months, and months turned into years. It all just sorta melded into one. Man's greatest dream is to conquer Death, and we were taking it for granted. Always relying on this mysterious machine to bring us back from the brink and none of us gave it a second thought, myself included I guess. But there have been accidents and malfunctions in the past where someone has died for real. Not since 55 years ago at least. That brought back the mortality to this endless bloodbath.

But I was just focused on me. As long as I can carry on as I was forevermore, I would be fine. But I wanted my team to pull through as well. All of my memories, more or less half my life's worth, was connected to these eight other people.

Earning money for my family back in Boston was the only thing keeping me going, the only thing making me cave skulls in so they could be better off. Guess that doesn't matter now. I can't do anything for them now, I can't do anything for my team either. Living, growing and fighting with the same people for twenty years, you form this connection, you know?

They aren't your teammates anymore, they aren't even your friends. They are your family. _My_ family.

An unbreakable bond that holds us together could withstand a freaking nuclear holocaust. I could've stayed that way forever, and I'm not saying that lightly. An intricate web of fate and decisions weaved its way through all our lives, bringing us together to create two decades worth of bonds, with my brothers in arms. Well, back then I didn't know what Pyro was, but I'm going off track here. I have so many memories, so many that it would be impossible to write them all down.

I remember finding my first ever weapon, a Sandman, god I love that bat. I remember eating Medic's apple strudels during his Oktoberfest, drinking the beer and passing out on the bench outside the base. Embarrassingly, I remember when celebrating a win once, Demoman dared me to make out with every single one of the guys before the night ended. Why the fuck I thought that was a good idea, I still don't know.

I didn't want to die simply because I wanted to carry on just as I was. My god I'm getting all sentimental over here, but that's the whole freaking point; I don't ever want to let go of anything. And now I'm here, dead. In the ethereal plane between the living and the dead. The place where souls go to become ghosts, forever roaming the earth. I don't want to leave just yet, I still need to go to some strip clubs and do unspeakable things to some models! But of course I'm a ghost, I can't get done for shit. All jokes aside, I never wanted this. I never wanted to become...this. To leave everything I ever knew and roam the hallowed places of this world, alone. No one here beside me, no one to talk to.

I remember just before I died, someone saying, "Scout? We hope you understand why this needs to be done." I was crying, bawling my eyes out on the floor of the office,

"Don't make me leave, _please?_"

But that was my worst fear. In reality, I'm not alone. I had nothing to fear after all. My whole team is with me. My team 'were made to leave', to make way for the new batch of mercs, 20 years younger than us. Granted we're all dead, but we're together, in the afterlife. Solly, Snipes, Doc, Heavy, Py, Demo, Spook, Engie and me.

We will never be alone, from now into the eternal oblivion.

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**And there you have it, something a little different from me. Hopefully I brought a tear to your eye, or if it didn't then that's fine too. What did you think of it? Please drop a review and let me know your thoughts :)**

**Until next time, FF.**


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